The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-11-08
Theatre panlcs.
From ! no Cincinnati Enquirer.

It seems impossible when you look
around at gallant men and amiabls
women, sitting placidly at aplay, that
in moment, on the utterance OF one
word, they can be turned into dumb
driven cattle, senseless, suicidal idiots
But it is so. Any night the auditor
ium OF q fashionable theatre may
echo to some unfortunate note oil
alarm. In an instant the gray-haired
banker, whose dignity gave tone to
his whole section, is walking up the
backs OF women and over the heads
OF children.
At the Park theatre one night THE
theatre that happily was destroyed
by fire about three hours before the
time when it would have been packed
by New York's best peo-
pie to witness Miss Langtry's
debut), some dude, entering up
the unsafe and tortuous stairway,
threw his cigarette through the iron
grating OF the steps. Some accumula-
ted rubbish began to shoulder, and a
volume ofsmoke poured into the audi.
forum. About half the audience sit
ting there knew that the stage had an
enormous square opening direct upon
Twenty -second street-a door not ten
feet from the level OF the street. Every
soul in the house could have gone
over the foot lights, crossed the stage,
and been in Twenty-second street in
three minutes time. They had all en-.
tered the theatre by the crooked, mar
row passage; they all knew it's misera-
BILE limits; they saw the smoke coming
in at that narrow passage, and yet
when some scared scamp near the
door jumped to his feet and screeched
"Fire" they all with one accord start
ed to the rear, regardless OF life or
limb. Luckily that night a stalw art
policeman, with the lungs ola Stentor,
calmly said: "There amt no fire; it's
been put out" Hegrabbed the first lot
mad people and bodily put 'em down
into seats; but for few minutes there
vas the liveliest kind OF scrimmage.
A well-known and dignified citizen had
sat in high. bred ease two seats ahead
OF me during the performance. As the
panic struck him he rose, mounted
over the back of his seat and started
to walk on the shoulders OF some
fashionably. attired ladies. 1t seemed
an occasion for remonstrance, and l
had slight but severe remark to
make and made it with an opera glass;
the old gentleman took the kindly
hint and concluded to walk on his legs
in the aisle, but he had made fair
start to tramp to safety over his fel-
low creatures.
At another time in the Cosmopoli
tan ball at Forty-second' street the
place was crowded for Primrose Il
Thatcher's first night OF minstrelsy
There was a low gallery running ound
the building, supported upon q series
OF iron posts. During the evening one
OF these posts slipped off 1.-THE block"
and crashed through into a billiard
saloon in the basement; the gallery
in that particular spot sagged,
creaked and some beam split with
alarming noise. In moment all was
excitement in the crowded gallery.
was sitting few feet in front OF the
spot, and being fearful the people
might begin to jump down on my de-
voted head ! pushed my escort, a
veryimportant and self-suflicient gen.
tleman, aid suggested we get into two
broad aisles beside him where, ifpeo-
pie jumped they would not jump on
us. got no response, and / might as
well have pushed at the side OF the
house, he was so immovable. With
"level fronting eyelds" he confronted
nothing and looked steadily. He
clasped hard derby hat against his
stomach and was near petrifaction as
is consistent with life.
After the alarm subsidized and the
performance was resumed, it was dis.
covered that my scared friend had
crushed his hat on his body as fiat as
mustard plaster, and pressed the
the nails OF one hand SO venomously
into the other that the blood had
ltarted through the cut skin.